Tracks
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I enjoy this album with very few reservations. There's only one track I could very well have done without, and that is "Raiden's Theme," which I found really annoying. It has kind of a skeevy, lackadaisical vibe about it which feels inconsistent with the character. I don't think a lot of thought went into that track. I feel like it should be the theme-music that plays as some low-life slinks out of a dark corner and tries to scam me with a deck of cards. Definitely not suitable for the god of thunder.
"Deathstalker" A pretty strong start for this album in that it's melodically powerful, if a bit simplistic. It could have "gone somewhere" further than it did, been more climactic, but it still makes good background music. Keeler did a good job keeping with the "fight-scene-background-music" blueprint. And though it could really have had more pyrotechnics (this is a primarily dubstep album, after all) it's tonally innocuous and manages to convey the "burning-with-inner-vengeance" energy that is Scorpion's spirit.
"Mileena's Theme" Tokimonsta *definitely* did her homework on this character while writing this song. Mileena is the Mortal Kombat Universe's biggest and most obvious sex-symbol, as well as being a vicious and sadistic creature in personality. The initial droning hiss of synth as well as the intermittent slithering, tentative staticky-beep coming in on the high end (the latter of which starts around 1:08) paint a mental picture of a teasingly salacious, shamelessly lewd spirit who never quite lets you have "what you want," but allows you think (while enjoying your prolonged torment) that she just might... eventually. Then every now and again she hisses tauntingly "LET'SsSs PLAY!! };D" which sounds both violently combative and more-than-implicitly sexual at the same time. VERY accurate of the character.
"Helado" Coming from the Spanish word for "Ice Cream" (ho-kay, then... o.O) this is Sub-Zero's theme. Once again, I feel like this track could have been more exciting. Still, the very slow up-and-down winding of synth makes the track feel very "cold" while the syncopated percussion draws to mind images of an unpredictably complex, overwhelmingly-quick hand-and-foot fighting style (very fitting of a ninja.) Some of the sounds also make me think of the kinds of ice-energy attacks that he has, like the expanding freeze-orb that he pulls out right before Liu Kang defeats him in the first Mortal Kombat movie.
Speaking of Liu Kang,
"Liu Kang's Theme" Despite it being a semi-enjoyable song, I found the way this was written to be almost racist. I mean, come-on, the "DWANG-DWANG, DWANG-DWANG, DWANG!!" cymbal sound in this track? Then again, Liu Kang's character *is* pretty much the cesspool into which the gaming world dumps all its racist Asian stereotypes. ::triple-backflip:: "WAH-tah, WoOoOoOoOohh!! o.O" Srsly. It had a nice beat, though. Very ceremonious, and backing-off a bit from chastising the racism, parts of it do remind me in an innocuous kind of way of traditional fighting tournaments - the kind of setting where you'd expect to see some incense burning in the background and a raised, attractively-decorated ring (which sounds like something you'd see in an M/K game.)
"Goro's Theme" Definitely very Prince-Goro. The bounciness of it would go well with scenes of Goro tossing-around helpless opponents. It conveys brutality to a degree of success I usually only hear in metal music. The use of clanking chains and growling sounds adds something extra horrific to the mix.
"Johnny Cage's Theme" Harvard Bass certainly did Johnny Cage properly. This track is rhythmically riveting and dynamic, but straightforward (because Cage isn't really that complex of a character.) Also, it has a certain flashy show-off-ishness about it that easily reminds one of Johnny.
Generally this was a good album, and makes for excellent jock-jams. Some of it could use work, but you win-some, you lose-some-and-get-a-brutal-fatality.
"Deathstalker" A pretty strong start for this album in that it's melodically powerful, if a bit simplistic. It could have "gone somewhere" further than it did, been more climactic, but it still makes good background music. Keeler did a good job keeping with the "fight-scene-background-music" blueprint. And though it could really have had more pyrotechnics (this is a primarily dubstep album, after all) it's tonally innocuous and manages to convey the "burning-with-inner-vengeance" energy that is Scorpion's spirit.
"Mileena's Theme" Tokimonsta *definitely* did her homework on this character while writing this song. Mileena is the Mortal Kombat Universe's biggest and most obvious sex-symbol, as well as being a vicious and sadistic creature in personality. The initial droning hiss of synth as well as the intermittent slithering, tentative staticky-beep coming in on the high end (the latter of which starts around 1:08) paint a mental picture of a teasingly salacious, shamelessly lewd spirit who never quite lets you have "what you want," but allows you think (while enjoying your prolonged torment) that she just might... eventually. Then every now and again she hisses tauntingly "LET'SsSs PLAY!! };D" which sounds both violently combative and more-than-implicitly sexual at the same time. VERY accurate of the character.
"Helado" Coming from the Spanish word for "Ice Cream" (ho-kay, then... o.O) this is Sub-Zero's theme. Once again, I feel like this track could have been more exciting. Still, the very slow up-and-down winding of synth makes the track feel very "cold" while the syncopated percussion draws to mind images of an unpredictably complex, overwhelmingly-quick hand-and-foot fighting style (very fitting of a ninja.) Some of the sounds also make me think of the kinds of ice-energy attacks that he has, like the expanding freeze-orb that he pulls out right before Liu Kang defeats him in the first Mortal Kombat movie.
Speaking of Liu Kang,
"Liu Kang's Theme" Despite it being a semi-enjoyable song, I found the way this was written to be almost racist. I mean, come-on, the "DWANG-DWANG, DWANG-DWANG, DWANG!!" cymbal sound in this track? Then again, Liu Kang's character *is* pretty much the cesspool into which the gaming world dumps all its racist Asian stereotypes. ::triple-backflip:: "WAH-tah, WoOoOoOoOohh!! o.O" Srsly. It had a nice beat, though. Very ceremonious, and backing-off a bit from chastising the racism, parts of it do remind me in an innocuous kind of way of traditional fighting tournaments - the kind of setting where you'd expect to see some incense burning in the background and a raised, attractively-decorated ring (which sounds like something you'd see in an M/K game.)
"Goro's Theme" Definitely very Prince-Goro. The bounciness of it would go well with scenes of Goro tossing-around helpless opponents. It conveys brutality to a degree of success I usually only hear in metal music. The use of clanking chains and growling sounds adds something extra horrific to the mix.
"Johnny Cage's Theme" Harvard Bass certainly did Johnny Cage properly. This track is rhythmically riveting and dynamic, but straightforward (because Cage isn't really that complex of a character.) Also, it has a certain flashy show-off-ishness about it that easily reminds one of Johnny.
Generally this was a good album, and makes for excellent jock-jams. Some of it could use work, but you win-some, you lose-some-and-get-a-brutal-fatality.